News for
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)

photos

board

trailer

details

3 articles from 2006

23 January 2006 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Demonstrating yet again that there's nothing so reliable as a cheap horror flick to turn a quick profit at the box office, Sony Screen Gems' Underworld: Evolution debuted in first place over the weekend with a higher-than-expected $27.6 million. (The film, which was not screened for critics, got royally trounced by them after it opened. Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times commented, "Maybe one day, Hollywood will figure out that pouring acting-challenged starlets into black neoprene and sticking them in front of a blue screen do not a movie make.") Hoodwinked, the Weinstein Co.'s animated spoof of the Little Red Riding Hood tale remained in second place with $11 million, while last week's winner, Glory Road, fell to third place with $9.14 million. Paramount's Last Holiday dropped to fourth place with $9.1 million. But once again the real sensation was Focus Features' Brokeback Mountain, which nearly doubled the number of theaters in its seventh week and saw its ticket sales rise by more than a third to $7.83 million. Besides Underworld, the only other new film to make the top ten was End of the Spear, promoted by Christian groups. It took in an estimated $4.7 million, good enough for eighth place. But Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World found few lookers as it grossed $455,000 at 161 theaters. The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Underworld: Evolution, Sony, $27.6 million; 2. Hoodwinked, Weinstein Co., $11 million; 3. Glory Road, Disney, $9.1 million; 4. Last Holiday, Paramount, $9.1 million; 5. Brokeback Mountain, Focus, $7.8 million; 6. Fun With Dick and Jane, Sony, $6.1 million; 7. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Disney, $6 million; 8. Hostel, Lions Gate, $4.3 million; 9. The New World, New Line, $4.2 million; 10. End of the Spear, Rocky Mountain, $4.2 million.

Permalink | Report a problem

20 January 2006 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Albert Brooks's Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is receiving even harsher criticism than the Christian film, and not at all because of the use of the other religion's name in the title. Brooks once claimed that Sony refused to distribute the movie because of the title, a claim that Sony denied. Critics are suggesting that the studio correctly decided to cut its losses. The film starts off well enough, the critics agree, as Brooks is supposedly hired by a presidential commission to find out what makes Muslims laugh. In fact, Jack Mathews writes in the New York Daily News, "There are funny ideas laced throughout, but they are rarely fleshed out into something more than a spasm of whimsy." Several critics give Brooks their blessing, however -- among them Claudia Puig in USA Today, who writes: "The comic actor/director's most humorous movie since 1996's Mother is filled with witty social observations and silly laughs. It runs out of steam in the final 15 minutes. But anyone who can mine so many laughs from the world in which we live since 9/11 deserves applause." And Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times comments that the movie "is not Brooks' funniest film, but it possesses his trademark wry humor and is slyly observant. At first glance, it would appear not to have much to say. But Brooks, a low-key comedian, has a fondness for the broad, high-concept set-up that masks the subtlety of his satire."

Permalink | Report a problem

20 January 2006 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Underworld: Evolution, starring Kate Beckinsale, is expected to become the No. 1 film at the box office this weekend, but it was not screened for critics, since distributor Sony Screen Gems apparently believed that it would receive largely negative reviews. However, two other new films are also opening to dreadful notices, the Christian drama End of the Spear and Warner Independent's Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Most critics give Spear points for sincerity and inspiration, but few for entertainment. (Most dismiss the film in three or four paragraphs.) "This undramatic would-be piece of inspiration seems like made-for-TV fare for the Christian Broadcasting Network before it morphed into the Family Channel," writes Lou Lumenick in the New York Post.Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe describes it as "a dutiful public service announcement."

Permalink | Report a problem

3 articles from 2006